Will the Hamburg native falter again?
As has been the case for the past 15 years, since Austrian Jürgen Melzer won the title twice, there will be no defending champion in Vienna at this year’s Erste Bank Open! The reason is that last year’s champion, Jack Draper, will not be competing.
However, Alex Zverev is among the extended circle of favorites to win the indoor tournament on the Danube. The Hamburg native has always reached at least the quarterfinals in his four appearances to date, and he won the tournament in 2021.
The Hamburg native’s season can be described as very weak. At the beginning of the year, Zverev was still number 2 in the world rankings and a finalist at the Australian Open, but then came a string of disappointments.
His start to the ATP tournament in Vienna also fits into the picture of an unsuccessful season. It took three sets and a tiebreak in the decisive third set for the Hamburg native to book his place in the second round of the tournament against British qualifier Jacob Fearnley.
Now the German faces another clear underdog in Italian Matteo Arnaldi, who is ranked only 72nd in the world. However, given his shaky start, we are going for a Matteo Arnaldi vs. Alexander Zverev prediction of an upset victory for the underdog, including a handicap of +1.5 sets for him.
Matteo Arnaldi – Alexander Zverev Head-to-head record / H2H record
Zverev and the Italian have faced each other twice, and both times the Hamburg native took the victory after three sets. The matches took place on hard court in February in Acapulco and August in Toronto this year.
The Hamburg native always had a difficult start to the matches and lost the first set in both cases after a tiebreak. In view of this, the Matteo Arnaldi vs. Alexander Zverev odds for another first-set win by the pro from Sanremo are also recommended.
Matteo Arnaldi – Alexander Zverev Tip
Matteo Arnaldi is largely an unknown quantity on the ATP Tour. He has yet to win a title, and his four tournament victories to date have all come on the Challenger Tour. He also feels more comfortable on clay, as evidenced by the fact that three of his four Challenger triumphs have come on this surface.
Normally, the outcome of this match against the world number 3 would be a foregone conclusion. However, Zverev is clearly still struggling to find consistent form. This was evident in his very narrow opening victory at the ATP tournament in Vienna, which has total prize money of €2,736,875.
His physical condition is also still not ideal. Among other things, Zverev is struggling with back problems, and his unsuccessful year is taking its toll on his nerves. As a result, he also lacks self-confidence. His opponent has also taken at least one set from him in each of their two meetings so far this year.
In addition, Arnaldi likes to beat players from the top ten at the time of the match, such as Novak Djokovic at this year’s Madrid Open. In light of this situation, we believe that the betting odds for a victory by the underdog, including a handicap of 1.5 sets for him, are attractive in the match between Matteo Arnaldi and Alexander Zverev at the Wiener Stadthalle.
